WASHINGTON, USA
The Biden administration on Tuesday approved a massive $2.5
billion arms sale to Egypt despite ongoing concerns over human rights.Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi
The
sales were announced just hours after congressional Democrats urged the administration
not to release a much smaller package of military assistance that had been put
on hold last year pending the Egyptian government meeting certain
rights-related conditions.
The
State Department said Tuesday’s sale was unrelated to $130 million in foreign
military financing that was frozen in September and remains in limbo.
But
the size of the sale dwarfed the amount of withheld assistance and is likely to
draw criticism from lawmakers who are demanding the administration make good on
pledges to tie arms transfers to countries meeting minimal human rights
standards.
Tuesday’s
sale included 12 Super Hercules C-130 transport aircraft and related equipment
worth $2.2 billion, and air defense radar systems worth an estimated $355
million.
“This
proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the
United States by helping to improve the security of a major non-NATO ally
country that continues to be an important strategic partner in the Middle
East,” the State Department said.
“We
maintain that our bilateral relationship with Egypt will be stronger, and
America’s interests will be better served, through continued U.S. engagement to
advance our national security interests, including addressing our human rights
concerns,” it said.
Shortly
before the sale was announced a group of six House Democrats, including the
chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New
York, and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., called on the administration to insist
that Egypt meet human rights criteria for military transfers.
“While
we recognize and reaffirm important steps Egypt has taken in recent weeks to
address such concerns by releasing certain political prisoners and individuals
unjustly detained, the Egyptian government must meet the administration’s
conditions in full by the communicated deadline,” Meeks and his colleagues said
in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“If
not, we urge you to stand by your word and immediately reprogram withheld
funds,” they said.
Meanwhile,
Murphy said, “Egypt looks unlikely and unwilling to meet the narrow conditions
on the remaining $130 million in military aid by the deadline, while the human
rights situation more broadly has only deteriorated over the last few months.”
“If
Egypt doesn’t meet the conditions in full, the administration has to stand firm
and show the world that our actions live up to our stated commitment to
democracy and human rights,” Murphy said. - AP
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